Monday, June 24, 2013

I see a lot of mourning doves at my feeder. How do I tell
which ones are the babies? ~ Mason,
MI

juvenile Mourning Dove at East Lansing, MI Wild Birds Unlimited store

Mourning Doves can be found throughout most of North America
and are considered among the top ten most abundant birds in the United States. While
the average longevity for a typical adult is only about 1.5 years, the oldest
known free-living Mourning Dove, as proven by bird banding research, was more
than 31 years old. This is the longest life-span ever recorded for any
terrestrial bird found in North America.

Male and female Mourning doves

Mourning Doves are a medium-sized with a grayish brown back,
a buff underneath, black spots on the wings, and a black spot shaped like a
comma below and behind the eye.

They have a small, thin black bill, red legs and dark brown eyes. Males are
larger than females and show more color with a bluish cap, pink chest and neck
feathers and three white outer tail feathers. The female is graced with an
olive gray cap and a tan breast. Neck feathers can be greenish or pinkish with
one or two white outer feathers.

Mourning Doves sit on their eggs for about 2 weeks, feed the
babies in the nest for about 2 weeks and then care for their young for about a
month after they've fledged. Both male and female mourning doves share in
incubating and feeding their young.

Juvenile Mourning Doves look like the parents except for a
little white at the end of each feather and a lack of iridescent feathers.